Are mixed identities without majority heritage validated? Ethnic options among mixed-heritage individuals without Japanese ‘Blood’ in Japan

Abstract

Research on hāfu—the most widespread term for mixed-heritage individuals in Japan—is increasingly focused on their identities, but representations and scholarship concerning hāfu, which often define them as people born to one Japanese and one foreign parent, leave out individuals in Japan who have multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds but no Japanese heritage. Drawing on seven interviews with such individuals, this study explores their ethnic options. In a society where representations of mixedness are largely anchored in Japaneseness, do mixed-heritage individuals without Japanese heritage have the option to choose or claim a mixed identity? Do their identities challenge the dominant notion of mixedness grounded in the Japanese/foreigner dichotomy? We argue that their options to identify as Japanese and as mixed are largely constrained by the emerging trichotomy of Japanese, hāfu, and foreigners and by the dominant conceptualization of mixedness centred on Japaneseness. At the same time, their self-identifications do not fit neatly within these ethno-racial boundaries and thus challenge them, albeit in limited ways. This study contributes to global research on mixedness by showing that the ability to choose or claim a mixed identity is unevenly distributed between mixed-heritage individuals with majority heritage and those without it.